| These days (every day) we hear so much about | | | | these conditions: |
| our food being grown and raised in modified ways. | | | | * they aren't given routine antibiotics or growth |
| More and more of us are searching for labels to | | | | hormones like steroids |
| help us make more health-conscious choices. We | | | | * they continue to be fed their natural, unaltered, |
| find labels that say things like "free range", | | | | non-filler diet |
| "organically grown", "antibiotic and hormone free", | | | | Cows are mostly grain-feed for a time prior to |
| or non-GMO". These phrases were mostly | | | | slaughter rather than allowed to feed on |
| unheard of 10 years ago. So, what do these | | | | theirnatural diet of grass, plants and shrubs. They |
| terms have to do with "organic food"? | | | | are also often given growth hormones. These |
| "Organic food" and "health food" are not | | | | two things are done to make them bigger and |
| interchangeable. Organic is very different. It must | | | | meatier. Antibiotics are administered to prevent |
| meet specific production standards which vary | | | | them from getting sick on this grain diet which is |
| from what has become the normal process over | | | | foreign to their digestive systems. The animal is |
| the last thirty or so years. It's not so much that | | | | getting less nutrition from grain - meaning the |
| the foods themselves are bad - it's the modern | | | | consumer will get less nutrition too - and the |
| technological preparation, processing and alteration | | | | antibiotics from the animal flesh can get trapped in |
| that gets us into trouble. | | | | our tissues, making us resistant to antibiotics that |
| Look for the USDA Organic Seal | | | | we may need later. |
| Here in the United States, food must be certified | | | | "Free range" or "cage free" - a term used most |
| organic through the National Organic Standard | | | | often for poultry and egg labels - is a general |
| (NOS) Program, created to comply with the | | | | term meaning the chickens, hens, etc. are allowed |
| Organic Food Production Act of 1990. However , | | | | outside time instead of being "cooped up", so to |
| it was another 12 years (2002) before the U.S. | | | | speak. But this doesn't always mean "organic". |
| Department of Agriculture produced the USDA | | | | They may still be given antibiotics and |
| Organic Seal to place on all foods that are at least | | | | GMO-altered grain. |
| 95% organic. | | | | What is "genetically modified" (GMO) food? |
| Organic vegetables, fruits, grains and other crops | | | | GMO (genetically modified organism) is a term |
| must be grown without using: | | | | used to mean that genetic engineering techniques |
| * conventional pesticides | | | | known as "recombinant DNA technology" have |
| * artificial fertilizer | | | | been used to combine DNA from different |
| * human waste or sewage sludge | | | | sources and inserted "in vitro" into one molecule |
| * food additives | | | | of a plant or animal. This could mean that both |
| * "ionizing radiation" - energy particles that alter | | | | the animal and its food have been genetically |
| the number of electrons in the item's molecules | | | | modified. Concerns are turning up about new |
| and atoms, which is done to change their size and | | | | allergens, increased toxicity and further decreased |
| appearance, or experiment with hybrids and taste. | | | | nutrition from the GMO process. In the U.S. and |
| This can be harmful to the DNA of human and | | | | most other countries, organic foods are not |
| other animal cells. | | | | allowed to be genetically modified. |
| Animals considered "organically raised", must meet | | | | |